Headley loses trip to WBC as U.S. eliminated

A Puerto Rico fan cheers during the seventh inning of the second-round elimination game of the World Baseball Classic against the United States, Friday, March 15, 2013, in Miami. Puerto Rico defeated the U.S. 4-3. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
— AP

A Puerto Rico fan cheers during the seventh inning of the second-round elimination game of the World Baseball Classic against the United States, Friday, March 15, 2013, in Miami. Puerto Rico defeated the U.S. 4-3. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
/ AP

PEORIA, Ariz.  As Chase Headley’s hopes of playing in the World Baseball Classic were dashed by Team USA’s loss to Puerto Rico Friday, another Padre returned to the club’s spring training camp championing the concept of the international tournament.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Chris Denorfia, who was 8-for-21 with two doubles, five runs scored and an RBI in five games for the Italian team that was eliminated by Puerto Rico Wednesday night in Miami.

“That was a lot of fun, the games had a playoff feel to them,” continued Denorfia. “I’m there any time they want me to play.”

Headley wanted to be in San Francisco this weekend for the W BC finals – and would have been had Team USA not been eliminated Friday night in a 4-3 loss to Puerto Rico.

Headley was named earlier Friday to replace injured New York Mets third baseman David Wright. But there was a proviso. Other than catchers, injured players cannot be replaced by a team in the middle of a round.

Headley needed Team USA to defeat Puerto Rico and advance to the four-team WBC championships at AT&T Park. Puerto Rico eliminated the U.S.

Tony Clark of the Major League Baseball Players Association contacted Headley late Thursday about the possibility of replacing Wright and a formal invitation was made Friday afternoon.

“Team USA reached out to see if I was interested,” said Headley. “I am. I definitely was. It’s always been a dream of mine to play for Team USA. Obviously, I hate to see someone get hurt.”

Headley was on the provisional Team USA roster.

“I’m pulling pretty hard for Team USA to win today,” said Headley, who would have joined reliever Luke Gregerson as the second Padres representative on Team USA’s roster.

The only Padre remaining in the WBC is right-hander Edinson Volquez, who could be the Dominican Republic’s starting pitcher for their championship round opener.

Denorfia, who played center field and hit second in front of former Padres first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the Italians, said playing in the WBC was beyond what he expected.

“I’m a huge proponent of the WBC,” said Denorfia. “I think it’s great for the game. A lot of countries really got into it. It seemed like every game we played, the crowd was against us – Mexico, Canada and the United States in Phoenix and then against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in Miami.

“It was like we were the road team the entire tournament. Some of crowds were a bit hostile to us. It was great, like an international tournament should be. There were a lot of emotions from players representing their countries.”

Italy was eliminated by a pair of one-run losses to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the semifinal pool in Miami. They advanced from their initial round by beating Mexico 6-5 and Canada 14-4 before losing to Team USA 6-2 last week in Phoenix.

“The win over Mexico really got us going,” said Denorfia. “I think we surprised everyone in that game.”

Denorfia said the makeup of Team Italy was almost a 50-50 split between major league players and players from the Italian League.

“Most of our pitchers were from the Italian League,” said Denorfia. “I thought they did a great job. I’m there any time they’d like me to represent Italy. It was one of my best experiences in the game.”

Although Denorfia returned to the Padres Friday, Padres manager Bud Black said he would probably get a couple days off. “He played every game and flew back and forth across the country,” said Black.